Sony launches its first 200MP camera sensor to challenge Samsung

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Samsung was the world's first brand to develop and launch a 200MP camera sensor for phones. Its camera sensors have been used in several mid-range and high-end phones. Now, Sony has finally come up with a 200MP camera sensor that can pick a fight with Samsung's sensors and even win.



The sensor will likely be used by several Chinese smartphone brands, including Xiaomi.



Sony's LYT-901 is its first 200MP camera sensor



Sony Semiconductor has launched the LYTIA LYT-901 camera sensor for mobile devices. It is a 1/1.12-inch sensor with 200MP resolution and 0.7-micron pixels. This means it is slightly bigger than Samsung's biggest 200MP camera sensor, the ISOCELL HP1, which is a 1/1.22-inch sensor with 0.64-micron pixels. Its bigger pixels should theoretically allow it to capture images with relatively less noise in low-light and mixed lighting conditions.








Sony's new sensor offers all-pixel autofocus, likely referring to dual-pixel phase-detection autofocus. It can also capture images and videos with 4x in-sensor zoom, offering optical zoom-like quality, and 16-in-1 pixel binning for capturing 12.5MP images with improved quality in low-light conditions.








Given it’s 2025, the new sensor naturally incorporates some form of AI. Sony claims the LYT-901 employs AI-powered algorithms for remosaicing images, resulting in greater detail. You can see it in action in Sony's marketing image you can see above.








The LYT-901 also features Dual Conversion Gain-HDR (DCG-HDR) for improved dynamic range and combines that with Hybrid Frame-HDR (HF-HDR) for even better performance. It captures multiple frames and merges them intelligently to offer images with over 100dB of high dynamic range. This is similar to Samsung's Smart ISO Pro and Staggered HDR features that use Dual Conversion Gain and capture multiple frames at different exposures.







Sony says its first 200MP camera sensor is in the mass production stage and is already being shipped to brands. The Xiaomi 17 Ultra could be the first phone to launch with this sensor. The OPPO Find X9 Ultra and the Vivo X300 Ultra could also launch early next year with the same Sony sensor.



Samsung needs to develop a similarly big (1-inch or 1/1.1-inch) 200MP ISOCELL camera sensor and bring it to its flagship phones. A bigger sensor theoretically allows a phone to capture brighter images and videos with lower noise in varied lighting conditions. Since it can capture more light, a phone can take less time (faster shutter speed) to capture images and videos, resulting in lower noise.


The post Sony launches its first 200MP camera sensor to challenge Samsung appeared first on SamMobile.



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